The Japanese Convert

One of World War II's most unusual heroes.

There were many guests crowded around beautifully set tables in Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz's small apartment, located in the Mirrer Yeshivah in Jerusalem.

Rising to speak, Rav Chaim, the Mir's illustrious rosh yeshivah, warmly called out, “Dear Reb Avraham, may you merit to grow in Torah and fear of Heaven, in line with the aspirations of your pure heart! May you become a true son of Avraham Avinu, after whom you are now named.”

This was no bar-mitzvah celebration. The celebrant was Setzuso Kotsuji, a 60-year-old Japanese professor, who had recently been circumcised upon converting to Judaism, taking on the Hebrew name "Avraham."

“We will never forget what you did for us when we were in Japan,” Rav Chaim continued, “nor how you risked your life to save us. The merit of that self-sacrifice is what stood in your stead and led you to seek shelter under the wings of the Shechina [the Divine Presence] and to become a genuine member of the Nation you helped so much.”

FROM SHINTOISM TO JUDAISM

Setzuso Kotsuji was born in 1900 into an aristocratic Japanese family. His father, who himself
was a prominent Shinto priest, descended from a long-line of well-known priests.

Kiyoto, Setzuso's birthplace, was the center of the Shinto religion. His father hoped that Setzuso would naturally follow the family tradition and study for the priesthood.

Setzuso instead embarked on an epic search for truth. When he was 13, he visited an antique bookshop in which he discovered a Tanach, the Hebrew Bible, which had been translated into Japanese. Thirstily, he devoured that sacred work and learned about monotheism. Realizing that this was the truth, he slowly began to veer away from the polytheistic Shinto religion. In the end, he stopped attending the Shinto temple altogether and searched for someone to teach him more about Judaism.

After his marriage, Setzuso's search for the truth brought him to the United States, where he began to
study Tanach and Hebrew in an American university. When he returned to Japan with a doctorate in
Hebrew and Judaic studies, he continued to broaden his knowledge of these subjects.

In 1937, he published his first book in Japanese on Hebrew language and grammar. At that time, he also founded the Tanach and Hebrew Department at the Tokyo University. This department attracted many non-Jewish students and, quite rapidly, Professor Kotsuji gained acclaim in Japan as a scholar and thinker of repute. He was also highly esteemed in government circles, where he made many friends. He would subsequently utilize these connections to help the Jewish refugees who were to arrive to Japan. Prof. Kotsuji published other studies on Judaism, Tanach and Hebrew.

At that time, various Japanese researchers published studies which linked the Japanese nation to
the Ten Lost Tribes exiled by Sancheriv. These erroneous claims evoked a wave of interest in Judaism
among Japan's intelligentsia and Prof. Kotsuji's books became widely read.

During his studies in the United States, Prof. Kotsuji had not encountered Torah-observant Jews. He
first met such Jews in Charbin, the capital of Manchuria, where a large community of former
Russian Jews had existed since 1890. When Manchuria was conquered by Japan, the Japanese
emperor invited Prof. Kotsuji to serve as his Jewish Affairs Advisor. Prof. Kotsuji accepted this offer and moved to Charbin, where he remained for a few years. While there, the professor formed warm relationships with its Jewish community and its chief rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Aharon Kiskilov.

Prof. Kotsuji's friendship and admiration for the Jewish people reached a peak in 1941, when the Jewish refugees of the Holocaust began to stream to Japan in search of a haven.

When the Mirrer Yeshivah arrived in the Japanese city of Kobe, Prof. Kotsuji went there to familiarize
himself with the Torah world. In Kobe, he became very close with the Mir's illustrious rabbis and students, whose refinement and nobility of spirit had a profound impact on him.

A SAVING FRIENDSHIP

The permits which the Jewish refugees had received to enter Japan were only transfer visas, meant to
expire within two weeks of their arrival there. Although the Japanese authorities extended these visas a number of times, after a while there was pressure exerted upon the yeshiva to leave Japan and continue to their “destination” -- which was, of course, non-existent since they had nowhere else to go.

For purely humanitarian reasons, Prof. Kotsuji became involved in the refugees' problems and made vigorous efforts to have their visas extended. To achieve this, he utilized his friendship with Japan's Foreign Affairs minister. When top ranking members of Kobe's police force opposed the extension of these visas, Professor Kotsuji bribed them with vast sums of money, which he borrowed from his wealthy brother-in-law, and repaid himself.

As a result of Prof. Kotsuji's intervention, the Japanese authorities agreed to extend the refugees'
visas several times, letting them stay for eight months instead of the original two-week period. Later, when the Japanese decided to banish the Jews from Japan, they did not expel them completely but
instead deported them to Shanghai, China, which was under Japanese rule.

FIGHTING THE ANTI-SEMITES

As more and more Jewish refugees streamed into Japan, anti-Semitic sentiment increased. This was
because Germany, Japan's ally, attempted to persuade Japan to expel its Jews. This poisonous anti-Semitic propaganda flooded the Japanese media and revolting caricatures of Jews were plastered all over the Japanese newspapers. In 1941, the eve of Japan's war against the United States, Japan and Germany became even closer and anti-Semitism intensified. High-ranking Japanese leaders began to publicly blame the Jews for both World Wars, claiming that wherever Jews go, they spread havoc.

Prof. Kotsuji countered these accusations and waged a vigorous and brave battle against this anti-
Semitic incitement. Determined to portray the Jews to the Japanese in a positive light, he
published a book, called "The True Character of the Jewish Nation," in which he exploded all of the German myths and lies about the Jews, and portrayed the Jewish people as a highly ethical, righteous nation.

Prof. Kotsuji traveled throughout Japan, delivering lectures that praised the Jewish people and refuted the lies of her enemies.

Prof. Kotsuji traveled throughout Japan, delivering lectures that praised the Jewish people and refuted the lies of her enemies. He even appealed to the Japanese to assist the Jews, declaring, “Divine Providence has brought thousands of unfortunate refugees to our shores, so that we should help them and grant them a safe haven, where they will find peace and tranquility. This is our mission in life. Let us not betray it.”

Prof. Kotsuji practiced what he preached, and much of the humane treatment the Japanese accorded
the Jewish refugees may be attributed to his efforts. When a delegation comprising the leaders of the Jewish refugees, headed by the Amshinover Rebbe and Rabbi Moshe Shatzkes, met with Japanese government representatives in Tokyo, they were greatly aided by Prof. Kotsuji who acted as their mediator and translator. As a result of his intervention, the Japanese improved their attitude toward the Jewish refugees and withstood Germany's pressure to banish the Jews from Japan, at least temporarily.

In 1941, when the Japanese government changed its attitude and banished the Jewish refugees to Shanghai, he continued to maintain warm and active ties with the Jews. Even though Japan was relatively empty of Jews at that time, he still delivered lectures on the positive contributions of the Jewish people. However, such activity was particular risky since the Japanese government was led by a pro-Nazi nationalist group which wrathfully persecuted all of its opponents. But this did not deter Prof. Kotsuji, who spoke out against the Nazis nonetheless. When the publisher of his book asked him to delete the denouncements of the Nazis, Prof. Kotsuji refused.

TRUE DEDICATION

Many warned Prof. Kotsuji that he was risking his life by publishing such material and delivering his
lectures. But the courageous professor paid no attention to them. Towards the end of 1942, the
Japanese Bureau of Investigation began to believe the German reports that Jewish subversives were planning to gain control of the world, and they accused Prof. Kotsuji of abetting Japan's enemies, the Jews.

Prof. Kotsuji was arrested and interrogated under torture. Then a miracle occurred.

Prof. Kotsuji was arrested and interrogated under torture, in which his interrogators demanded that he
reveal his role in the plot. When he said that there was no such group of Jewish subversives, and that it was all a figment of the imaginations of the anti-Semites, he was further tortured to the point that his life was in danger.

Then a miracle occurred. At the peak of the interrogation, a high-ranking Japanese colonel who knew
Prof. Kotsuji very well, visited the prison where the professor was being held. The colonel was startled to see the scholarly professor, one of Japan's most respected academics, incarcerated on blatantly false charges and locked up with criminals. Immediately, the colonel demanded that Prof. Kotsuji be released, and that all of the charges against him be dropped.

After the war was over, the Jewish refugees who had left the Far East remained in close contact with
Prof. Kotsuji. When the American army arrived in Japan, Prof. Kotsuji became friendly with its chaplain, the observant Rabbi Mental, who taught him more about Judaism.

A few years later, Prof. Kotsuji finished his translation of The Song of Songs, a project which enabled him to better understand the relationship between God and the Jewish people.

Prof. Kotsuji continued to correspond with his friends from the Kobe period - the sages of the Mirrer Yeshivah. When he felt that he was ready to lead a fully observant life, he informed these friends that he would be coming to Jerusalem to convert.

In1959, the 60-year-old Professor Setzuso Kotsuji was warmly welcomed to the Jewish faith by his friends from the Mir and named Avraham ben Avraham Kotsuji.

Professor Avraham Kotsuji spent the final years of his life in a religious community in Brooklyn. During that period, he was ill and penniless. The heads of the Mirrer Yeshivah formed a special committee which rallied to his aid and raised money to support him.

Professor Kotsuji passed away on the 5th of Cheshvan, 5734/1974, in the United States. In accordance
with his will, his was buried in Jerusalem's Har HaMenuchos cemetery. His funeral was attended by a large throng of leading rabbis, communal leaders and students of the Mirrer Yeshivah.

Avraham ben Avraham Kotsuji will go down in history first as one of the world's most outstanding
righteous gentiles, and then as one of Jewry's most outstanding converts. His total dedication to the Jewish people and his willingness to risk his life for them is an everlasting source of inspiration and a pure kiddush Hashem.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 20

(16)
Lawrence B. Erdile,
January 7, 2014 10:35 PM

Had the honour to hear him tell his life story

A few years before he died, he gave a lecture at our shul in the Montreal area in which he told the story of his path from the son of a shinto Priest, to a Christian, and finally how he found his religious home as a Jew and ultimately a Rabbi. It was a real honour to meet and speak with him. It reinforced my pride to be a Jew. His book holds a place of honour in my modest personal library of Jewish books.

(15)
Koji,
January 31, 2013 9:55 PM

where is his grave in Har HaMenuchot?

I recently came to know Abraham Kotshuji, and I am a Japanese who live in Israel. I would like to visit his grave in the cemetary, but I do know the exact location of his grave. If anyone knows...

(14)
Michael,
May 1, 2011 2:05 PM

Correction needed to this biography

I recently completed reading Abraham Kotsuji's autobiography, entitled "From Tokyo to Jerusalem." He was born on Feb. 3, 1899, not in 1900. Also, he found a Bible in the used book store, not the Tanakh. This is important, because it was at this point that he was exposed to the Old and New Testaments. He subsequently was baptized and then became a Presbyterian minister. He stresses that his theological focus was always the Tanakh, and it was his disillusionment with the New Testament that eventually led him to leave Christianity. Much of his autobiography dwells on this large part of his interesting life. His spiritual struggle was fascinating.

(13)
WA Ford,
January 20, 2011 3:41 AM

Though some high ranking Japanese officials were borderline anti-semites most were not. Thousands of Jewish lifes were saved thanks to the kind Japanese people. Japanese war crimes have been exaggerated by communist and nationalist chinese who killed millions of their own people.

Anonymous,
February 3, 2014 3:04 AM

Japanese War Crimes

With all respect please do not downplay the Horrors of Japanese war crimes . They are very well documented . Kotsuigi writes about them some in his book " From Tokyo to Jerusalem "

M. Kanzako,
February 11, 2018 1:13 PM

"Japanese war crimes"?

Where and which book of his specifically? I'm reading his biography and have not come across anything about that. You need to be more careful with this subject as so much propaganda by mostly US-China (both Nationalist and Communist forces) were written and spread in the 1930's and continues to this day, curiously enough.

The biggest lie is probably so called "Nanjing Massacre" in which 300,000 civilians were raped, buried alive, looted, and countless villages were burned, etc. The same goes for so called "comfort women" story who were supposedly kidnapped by the Japanese army and made into "sex slaves".

(12)
AnotherJewishConvert,
August 8, 2010 1:01 AM

Correction and clarification

This "Mr. Sugegawa" is really Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara. Please do a google search for Mr. Chiune Sugihara and you'll find and be touched by this righteous and brave man who saved around 6,000 jews by going against his governmental duty and issuing those visas which enabled the jews to go through Japan to evade the Nazi's.

Aviyah,
June 22, 2011 9:07 AM

Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness

BS"D
I just watched the DVD, Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness. It was well done and I recommend it to everyone. The history of the time is unbearably painful, yet there are tzadikim like Chiune Sugihara-san, a"h, who made it much less painful. Their memories should be for a blessing.

(11)
Gordon Slobin,
March 19, 2006 12:00 AM

My late wife's uncle survived with a visa from Mr.Sukegawa

My late wife's uncle living in Warsaw managed to escape to Riga, Latvia & was successful in obtaining one of Mr. Sukegawa's visas which enabled him to travel to Japan (Kobe?). He was later able to board a ship going to Vancouver, Canada. This ship was the last ship to go to Canada before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.

(10)
Kip Gonzales,
December 15, 2004 12:00 AM

Mr. Sukegawa, another illustrious Japanese

This story is very touching. I was also moved by a story I read a few years ago in the Reader´s Digest about a Japanese man, Mr. Sukegawa, who worked at the Japanese Embassy or Consulate in Riga, Latvia in 1942. He had converted to Christianity while serving in China, and then in Riga, he and his wife worked tirelessly to help Jews get out of the country. He gave them safe-passage visas to travel through the U.S.S.R. to China and Japan. He saved the lives of thousands of Jewish people including an entire yeshiva. I would love to see an article on the efforts of this little-known hero.
Thank you, and Shalom.

(9)
Randolph D. Grossberg,
December 13, 2004 12:00 AM

An outstanding and informative article about a corageous and principled man. I hope he would become a model for all pious people who are seeking a lasting spiritual connection to everyone.

(8)
Nosson Campos,
December 13, 2004 12:00 AM

The light in our Torah

This beautiful story is but an example of how HaShem's Light shining from within our Torah can guide out of the darkness those seeking spiritual truths found in the Torah's sacred texts.

(7)
Gerald M. Pergament,
December 12, 2004 12:00 AM

New Insight Into Japanese People

It is difficult to understand, let alone believe that someone born and raised in Japan during the monarchal period, could have made such a remarkable transition. Yet, life is always more remarkable then that which we imagine.

We Americans who were alive on December 7, 1941 and the days immediately after that date, well remember the stories and events that changed everything. But, there was one thing that was not made clear to the American people at that time; Jewish people from Europe were trying to enter the U.S.A. in an effort to save themselves from the horrors of Nazi Germany, but were being denied entry for some of the same reasons the Japanese professor was fighting against. Like Japan,America was being inundated with anti Simetic propoganda.

WE can thank God that there existed non Jewish people throughout the world who understood the misinformation as lies. Yes there were many people here in the USA who cried out at the Nazi propaganda, but neither our president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, nor the federal government was listening. They were dancing to another tune.

In Japan, though, with so very few Jews, a martyr stood fast and demanded that the Japanese government provide justice for the people Israel.

May his memory forever abide among us!

Levi,
June 20, 2016 8:41 PM

Japanese admires power

The persuit of power is innate in Japanese culture and it is very well known fact without any doubt. Background is from their long-lasting social system maintaining social classes very strictly. Japanese Samurai (warrior) class had right to behead any pesants on the road to test if the sword was good enough - and this happened very often - this later became the basis of massacre as a game to hunt hundreds of thousands people in China, to compete the number of killing.

So it's why Japanese eagerly tried to learn from Western, as isolated state in Asia, from advanced civilisation of continent. And when they accepted propaganda from Nazi, they found it was great opportunity to become stronger - Becoming strong by learning and copying form the strongest - This is so called Bushido (way of warrior) the basic attitude of Japanese.

How many Japanese tried to save Asian people from their government's horrible ruling and murders? - No case is known. And then what Japanese did? They did exactly same thing as Nazi did in Auschwitz, google search 731 unit will show many interesting results.

So, the professor himself was a heroic Japanese, true. But it shouldn't be used to mislead people, it is very strange while Nazi Germany is still regarded as evil, but same Japan is beautified while they did inhumane crimes (Atomic bombing in Japan is similar case, how can it be used for self pity and peaceful country image?). If it is because it was 'not my business', then it is one of the worst cases of ego-centric attitude.

(6)
Katsuhiko(Katz) Aoki MD,PhD.,
December 12, 2004 12:00 AM

How Dr.Kotsuji became rabbi?

Dear Mr.Sofer,D.
I enjoy to watch Aish,com everyday.
I'm a medical doctor, pediatric radiologist and learn Hebrew for many years. I have studied about Rabbi Kotsuji,Avraham,Setsuzoh Ph.D. for a few years. As I was impressed very much to read "From Tokyo to Jerusalem" Benard Geis Associates, Random House, N.Y. & Canada,1964. The book was written by Dr.Kotsuji and ended at his Conversion. I had some information from his daughters and some references after that. However, it's still obscure how he became rabbi in 6 June 1960 in USA. If you know about his rabbinate, please let me know. It's my great pleasure to obtain the information. todah ravah.

(5)
Joshua Meisner,
December 12, 2004 12:00 AM

For more information...

Dr. Kotsuji wrote an autobiography about his life, ending with his conversion. The title is "From Tokyo to Jerusalem".

(4)
Jaime Berebichez,
December 12, 2004 12:00 AM

Very interesting

I wanted to know more about this episode of jewish history, and this becomes very interesting now in Janukah, when we celebrate the persistence of the Jews in the world.

(3)
Samuel J, Jacobs,
December 12, 2004 12:00 AM

A wonderfully moving story of a very great man!

I recommend his autobiography " From Tokyo to Jerusalem" though it is probably not in print any longer...I corresponded with him for several years both when he was still in Japan and in his final days in Brooklyn. Having served in WW II in the U S Army as a Prisoner of War Interrogator, I had a fairly good background in Japanese language, customs, and history. So we
enjoyed a very stimulating correspondence. He was certainly a most unusual person. Thanks for this
excellent account of his life.

My nephew is having his bar mitzvah and I am thinking of a gift. In the old days, the gift of choice was a fountain pen, then a Walkman, and today an iPod. But I want to get him something special. What do you suggest?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Since this event celebrates the young person becoming obligated in the commandments, the most appropriate gift is, naturally, one that gives a deeper understanding of the Jewish heritage and enables one to better perform the mitzvot! (An iPod, s/he can get anytime.)

With that in mind, my favorite gift idea is a tzedakah (charity) box. Every Jew should have a tzedakah box in his home, so he can drop in change on a regular basis. The money can then be given to support a Jewish school or institution -- in your home town or in Israel (every Jews’ “home town”). There are beautiful tzedakah boxes made of wood and silver, and you can see a selection here.

For boys, a really beautiful gift is a pair of tefillin, the black leather boxes which contain parchments of Torah verses, worn on the bicep and the head. Owning a pair of Tefillin (and wearing them!) is an important part of Jewish identity. But since they are expensive (about $400), not every Bar Mitzvah boy has a pair. To make sure you get kosher Tefillin, see here.

In 1944, the Nazis perpetrated the Children's Action in the Kovno Ghetto. That day and the next, German soldiers conducted house-to-house searches to round up all children under age 12 (and adults over 55) -- and sent them to their deaths at Fort IX. Eventually, the Germans blew up every house with grenades and dynamite, on suspicion that Jews might be in hiding in underground bunkers. They then poured gasoline over much of the former ghetto and incinerated it. Of the 37,000 Jews in Kovno before the Holocaust, less than 10 percent survived. One of the survivors was Rabbi Ephraim Oshri, who later published a stirring collection of rabbinical responsa, detailing his life-and-death decisions during the Holocaust. Also on this date, in 1937, American Jews held a massive anti-Nazi rally in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In a letter to someone who found it difficult to study Torah, the 20th century sage the Chazon Ish wrote:

"Some people find it hard to be diligent in their Torah studies. But the difficulty persists only for a short while - if the person sincerely resolves to submerge himself in his studies. Very quickly the feelings of difficulty will go away and he will find that there is no worldly pleasure that can compare with the pleasure of studying Torah diligently."

Although actions generally have much greater impact than thoughts, thoughts may have a more serious effect in several areas.

The distance that our hands can reach is quite limited. The ears can hear from a much greater distance, and the reach of the eye is much farther yet. Thought, however, is virtually limitless in its reach. We can think of objects millions of light years away, and so we have a much greater selection of improper thoughts than of improper actions.

Thought also lacks the restraints that can deter actions. One may refrain from an improper act for fear of punishment or because of social disapproval, but the privacy of thought places it beyond these restraints.

Furthermore, thoughts create attitudes and mindsets. An improper action creates a certain amount of damage, but an improper mindset can create a multitude of improper actions. Finally, an improper mindset can numb our conscience and render us less sensitive to the effects of our actions. We therefore do not feel the guilt that would otherwise come from doing an improper act.

We may not be able to avoid the occurrence of improper impulses, but we should promptly reject them and not permit them to dwell in our mind.

Today I shall...

make special effort to avoid harboring improper thoughts.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...